A war we did not want to participate in
by Spikiestlord
Summary: (This is our first fanfic so please review and tell us what we can improve!) After wandering the world for 50 years, two siblings find themselves in a war. They soon unwillingly pair up with Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain, working together to stop prevent it from getting worse, or affecting mortals.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Neah's POV

Cold. The weather here in Ireland was cold. A soft breeze was blowing against my face pulling me back out of my little daydream. It took a few seconds before I realized that I was atop a tall building. With Moon. Thank God she was next to me. I don't know what I would have done without her. Maybe go on a rampage and murder every person in the building. That does seem like fun. I'll certainly enjoy ripping out their hearts and painting their blood across the walls. A maniacal grin spread across my face as my bloodlust grew stronger. What I failed to notice was my dear sister staring at me with a look full of worry.

"Are you alright Neah?" I turned my face away to hide that evil grin.

"I'm fine" I mumble, trying to control my urges.

Moon had a stern look on her face like she's trying to peer right into my thoughts. Which seemed to be working, because she immediately replied.

"No you're not. You wouldn't have turned you face away if you were. Come here." All of a sudden a comforting warmth spread across me. I relaxed, knowing that I can calm down.

Man, she does give the best hugs. She released me, seeing that I no longer have the urge to murder everyone.

"Let's go." Taking a bit of a run up, I jumped into the air with my sister right behind me.

Adrenaline was rushing through me as the ground was getting nearer, while I tried to position myself for a landing that won't break my bones. I landed with a satisfying thump, glad to not have broken anything. Well, even if something broke , it'll heal in seconds. My adorable sister took a little bit longer, since she has been running down the wall of the building, while I jumped down. Perks of not being a human I guess. Once we both got out of the alley we landed in, I took a little bit of time to take in my surroundings before we headed off to the location we were given by Lucius. Humans, lots of humans. I generally don't mind them too much, but it pisses me off that they live their lives so carefree, not knowing a thing. Taking a left at the upcoming street, I noticed that we already arrived. Odd. I don't remember it being so close.

At least the walk didn't take too long. The building in front of us looked antique. It smelled of rotten flesh and an aroma which I can't quite identify. It smelled kind of like a russian. Assuming that whoever was living here was dead, I barged the door open.

"Can't you at least open the door normally?" is what I hear behind me as Moon walks in.

"Sorry about that, but I could smell dead human. I don't think that anyone would have cared."

"You seriously lack manners, dear brother, you should change that." That comment silenced me.

It was quite dark in here, but that isn't a problem for me. It was for my sister though. I guided her up the stairs before entering the disgusting smelling room. At least there was a light switch up here. Moon was more of a detective than me, so I let her through to examine the corpse. It was in a pretty bad shape, I have to admit.

"Limbs broken and bent in weird angles, and a single gash probably originating from a blade of some sort, same as the previous victims."

I could have probably done better than the killer. Just as I was about to mention this aloud, we heard someone entering the building. My sister was barely able to cover the body up before an elderly woman entered the room. She's your average old woman, grey hair, glasses and the sort.

"Who are you two!?" she asks in a husky voice.

"We're detectives. We are here to investigate. Please step outside the room." Moon made a gesture with her hand to support her statement while ushering the woman out.

"W-why should I leave my own property at the order of strangers? I won't." Her face started paling for some reason.

She must've noticed the blood and the poorly covered body. "I-it can't be. Oh my god." She then dropped to the ground unconscious.

"She's seen to much." I jumped at her with the intention of of plunging a hole into her stomach, which I did before my sister could stop me.

I look at her with a warm smile, the blood of that woman on my face, completely ignoring the mess next to me. Once again turning my attention onto the fresh corpse, I lifted my arm with a slight chuckle readying myself to sever her limbs out of pure enjoyment. Just as I was about to bring my arm down, I felt Moon's hand grabbing my wrist, preventing me from having fun. She looked at me with a sad expression. Then it hit me. My eyes widened and tears were on the brim of bursting out of my eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" I was on my knees holding onto Moon, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

Moon's POV

He was holding onto me, crying his heart out. Seeing him like this, it hurts. Why did our father have to tell him about magic? Neah could have lived a peaceful life, making friends and eventually having a family. But thanks to our father Neah became aware of his abilities. He was hunted down by the sanctuaries, despite my pleading for them to stop. Once captured they tortured him without end. No matter what I tried, they didn't stop. Until Neah snapped, breaking free and murdering everyone in his sight. Thankfully I was able to stop him. Noticing that Neah had calmed down, I untangled myself from my brother.

"Come on, let's go. There's nothing here." "Actually, I'm smelling a scent that might be the killer's. Let's follow it." I looked at Neah with surprise, because I didn't expect the killers scent to still be around.

My brother was heading towards an open window with me right behind him. Looking back at me before he jumped out I noticed that he seemed to be concerned about something. I quickly ruled that thought out. My brother was a psychopath, he's the most careless person in the world.

Valkyrie's POV

We were walking down the street leading to the house where the murder was supposed to have happened. It was a quiet street, there were almost no cars on the road, and most buildings were unoccupied. Makes me wonder why an elderly couple would live here. Well only the woman now, since her husband is dead. Good thing she wasn't coming back until tomorrow. Coming closer to the old looking house, I noticed the door was kicked in, and so did Skulduggery.

"Seems like someone else got here first. And whoever they are, I think you could be great friends with them." The skeleton detective turned his head towards me, the glyph still active to show a fake face.

"What makes you think that?" I looked at him and replied,

"They, by the looks of it, enter buildings in the same fashion as you do." Skulduggery sighed in defeat and entered the building.

The inside was dark, and dust covered the furniture. Odd. There was a single light in a room up the stairs that was switched on. Skulduggery pulled out his gun while I prepared myself mentally, as we quietly walked up the stairs and entered said room. The sight was a gruesome one. The victim had a cut throat, and his arms and legs were bent in the wrong directions. I scanned the room, my eyes fixing themselves on a second corpse.

"Isn't that the wife!? She isn't supposed to be here, and more importantly, I thought she was alive!" I walked up to her corpse, careful to avoid any puddles of blood.

"She must've died recently. The corpse is fresh. Which makes me think our "friend" must have killed her." Skulduggery kneeled down beside her.

It didn't look like any weapon I know would have caused that wound. What could've? I looked up.

The window in the room was open. I pointed at it, and Skulduggery immediately knew what I meant.

"We'll follow the trail, I just want to confirm something." He pulled out that rainbow dust stuff, and sprinkled it across the room.

Then something really weird happened. The dust turned pitch-black, with hints of bloodred. I've never seen that before. Out of curiosity I asked,

"What does that color mean?" The only reply I got was,

"Trouble."

Plague's POV

Why did I have to do it? Don't ask me. Shiver gives the orders these days. And when I say gives orders I mean, "Get it done or you're dead!" I swear one of these days he's getting a shadow up his...Nevermind.  
Anyway I was standing on a warehouse rooftop listening to the screams of "The Beserker" trying to change form. It was faint but louder than usual. My last episode hadn't gone well. My Girlfriend Alix Thorne was almost killed. Our relationship is hanging from a thread, no thanks to Shiver. I'm telling you, he's got her wrapped around his finger, and she adores him. His methods, his power and for some reason his hair.

I was sent here to get a job done. These two Nags have been bothering Shiver for a while now. A Hitman like me has never failed a mission for his "Shiverness". One I knew was an Insane and he had reputation worthy of mine, but what really bothered me was that the girl with him was his sister. If they had "The Bond", things could turn out really ugly. I took out my earphones and and put on a song. Pumped Up Kicks, which was a great song to relax to. I still had about an hour before that Insane and his Sherlock Holmes sister turn up. I have always had a grudge against Insanes. 2 reasons why I say that:

1\. One blinded me when I was 12  
2\. They aren't the best of company

I rarely get to kill them which is why I was so excited for this mission. Suddenly he was there. Tall, handsome and an overall jackass. I popped out my earphones and vowed mockingly,

"Your Shiverness" I said, still bowing.

He glares (he rarely did anything else) 

"Be careful Wraith! Just because your the second most powerful Sorcerer in the pack, doesn't give you the right to mock the Alpha."

"Of course." I said, straightening up.

"They'll be here in 45 minutes. Be ready"

"I noticed." I murmured.

He knew I didn't like him. And I knew before him that he disliked me likewise. Your typical dream team.

"Where's Alix?" I asked without looking at him.

"Out." He said shortly

"Out? Like out, out?" He nodded.

"With whom?" I asked furiously.

"With me. A friendly chat. Away from work. You know?"

"No I don't!" I growled. This wasn't the first time he'd asked Alix to a "friendly chat". I didn't usually mind but she's gotten more and more distant from me. I rarely saw her without him breathing down her neck. I made a mental note to officially break up with this girl.

"I should be getting back now." Shiver said.

"Yeah you do that!" I snarled.

"Better get this job done or I'll-"

"Kill me? Fire me? Face it Coldplay you can't threaten me!" He glared at me (did I mention that he does that alot?).

He didn't like my references to his name, even though it earned him a lot of attention, but I guess he's not the one who wanted it.

"Be seeing you." doing the Eye and Hand greeting. And just like that he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Plague's POV

Do you ever get that feeling that you know you practiced enough but still don't know if you're ready for the upcoming challenge? Never had had that in my life. You just got played. I decided to meditate to work up my strength a little bit. I sat down in the shadows and darkness took me. Images flashed, a beautiful girl with raven black hair and blonde strands. Next to her a guy who looked slightly older than her, a wicked grin on his face. Next in a first person perspective I saw the girl on her knees, face in her hands and shaking. Purple and black flames around her.  
Suddenly I woke up with a lurch. I looked the sun. 40 minutes had gone by.

They should have been here by now. I looked down at the would-be deserted street. Two figures were cautiously walking along the warehouse wall. Their first mistake. I fell through the shadows I had meditated in and appeared behind the smaller figure. Her hair...black with blonde strands. Coincidence. Must be. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I grabbed her and shoved her in to the wall were she stumbled and fell. The bigger guy turned. Red eyes flashing menacingly. He snapped his fingers and an orb of dark energy appeared in his palm.

I didn't have time to see (I say see but I sort of sense what people's magic is and in my case seeing is believing) what it was exactly because just then he threw it at my feet. I melted into shadows and appeared behind him, but he saw that coming. He heel kicked, his foot hitting me in the chest. I rolled back, avoiding another kick (FYI I usually don't get hit so early in a fight). He turned to the girl I'd shoved. She was on her knees shaking.

"What have you done to her?" he whispered. I mimicked putting on glasses and held out a clip board and said, "As you can see Mr. Um...?" 

"Campbell." he growled.

"Mr. Crooked mouth. She is having some sort of seizure."

"What kind?" he asked.

"Sorry?"

"What kind of seizure?"

"Dude I was kidding!" "And that was your last joke" he said. He grinned and lunged.

Moon's POV

Dark spots were appearing in my vision. My consciousness was slipping. Huh? Neah? Who was he talking to? I tried to make out his words but couldn't. Neah was standing up, in a attacking stance. No don't. You'll end up destroying everything.

Neah's POV

Kill him. That's all I needed to do right? I just needed to kill him, and everything will be fine. I'll kill him, rip him apart, and crush his heart. I lunged at him my Void energy barely missing him.

"Do you know? Do you know what it all means to me?" maniacal smile still plastered on my face, I answered for him, " AT ALL! You hurt the one thing I hold dear"

This time I got behind him, me being the faster person. Now I'll kill him. He managed to block it, the void energy still grazing him. He got off a kick to my side, making me stagger a bit before I jumped back a few steps. I threw a couple more void energy spheres at him, but he dodged them easily. "You're good. What's your name?" I tilted my head slightly while asking.

"The names Wraith."

"Interesting name"

"Thanks. I always knew my sense of naming was great."

Charging at him, I faked a left jab, getting around him to rip a hole through him with another Void sphere. He dodged, grabbed me and through me against a wall.

"Your tennisballs of destruction won't affect me." Wraith smirked, slowly walking towards me.

White walls... Chair... People...in lab coats... Please, don't... hurt me. I don't know anything... I know nothing. Stop...the pain. I don't want... it. Take it away. Suddenly a familiar tune came into my head.

" _Watch out, watch out you are in trouble_

 _Watch out, watch out I'm coming for you_

 _You can hurt me, you can kill me, but remember you are cursed_

 _I will find you one way or another and death shall not stop me_

 _Watch out, watch out, you will die"_

I have one objective: Kill Wraith. I'll kill him. Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!

3rd person POV

Slowly getting up, the sound of bones snapping back into place, Neah held out his hand to the side. A black sphere materialized in the palm if his hand, red energy swirling inside it and black electricity crackling through the sphere. He slowly advanced forward, the only thing to be heard was a malicious laugh. With a sudden burst of speed, Neah ran forward. "DIE!" he screamed, and just as Neah was about to deal a devastating blow, a single gunshot was heard. Wraith thought himself pretty lucky, seeing that that Campbell guy was the one who got shot, which also stopped him in his tracks. Both turned their heads turned to the origin of the sound, glaring at the shooter known as the Skeleton Detective. Next to him stood the infamous Valkyrie Cain glaring back. Multiple Sanctuary vans appeared in the area. A shuffle was heard and instinctively Neah moved towards his sister, a worried look on his face. Skulduggery was surprised nonetheless, after all he shot the evil looking guy. Without warning, Moon began shaking violently, gasping for breath, as a dark mark formed on her cheek. Black and purple flames started sprouting for the ground around her, and burning her brother. Neah wasn't fazed by his flesh burning, instead making a small cut in his left arm.

"After this I'm coming for you." At this time hands grabbed Wraith pulling him into shadows as he disappeared.

Neah grit his teeth, since injuring himself hurt more than being injured by someone else. He held his bleeding arm above Moon's mouth, letting the blood drip into hit. She swallowed the dark red liquid, the mark on her face disappearing shortly after, together with the flames. Neah picked his sister up bridal style, and disappeared.

Plague's POV

She really was looking bad. She was smoking and black flames started licking at her black and purple jacket. But that wasn't the biggest of my problems. Irish Sanctuary vans pulled into the street. The big guy hurried to the shivering girl, who was still kneeling on the asphalt.

"I'll be coming for you." he said with gritted teeth. I wanted to clarify that whatever he tried, he could never get to me but just then a pair of hands grasped my shoulders and pulled me into darkness. 

I reformed and took in my surroundings. I was standing in an office. Paintings of battles and wars all around me. The walls were painted white. The expensive looking purple carpet felt hard underneath my feet. In the background I could hear Staying Alive playing, not a good sign. I felt movement behind me and turned to see Shiver was standing there, but I sense something else in the room. Something even more powerful than Shiver.

"Good afternoon." said a voice somewhere to my right.

An old man with shoulder long grey hair and a long beard was sitting at a good rimmed desk. He took of his blue glasses and set them down an an open book he must have been reading earlier.

"I take it from the look on your face, that you don't remember me."

"I dont." I replied

"Sir!" Shiver said.

"Pardon?" I asked thickly.

"You call him sir!"

"Chill out Shiver. I'll call him Mister Sir then!" Shiver opened his mouth to retort but Mister Sir just chuckled.

"I like you Mr. Wraith, you amuse me. But no, my name is Craig Clear. A humble supporter and sponsor of HFG" (Hospital For the Gifted)

"And I know you from where? Sir." I added glancing at Shiver.

He was glaring again (no surprise there).

"Oh it was long ago. You were only 12 at the time..."

"You're that doctor! You refused to see me when that crazed guy buried his thumbs in my eye sockets."

"Well done Plague. You catch up fast."

I wasn't sure I liked this guy too much. I remembered the fear coursing through me when I lost my eyesight. My brother had saved me. He fought off the Insane and dragged me home. My father tried all the healing spells he could, but to no avail. My mother rushed me to the HFG and pleaded with the doctor to heal me. He wouldn't.

"I understand your anger and resentment towards me. But I had my reasons."

"Oh yeah?" I snarled.

"Indeed, there was a war..."

"Yeah, yeah the war of the Sanctuaries. Big deal!"

"It was yes. I was supposed to report to the main camp on the evening of your visit. I would've helped you..."

"No one can help me," I yelled " I've been searching for 50 years to find the cure. I visited monks, mages, I even attended God damn spiritual classes! Nothing works."

He stood up so quickly and gracefully I didn't even hear his chair move. He walked around his desk and stopped in front of me.

"Clearly you haven't tried everything." He grasped my shoulder and color flooded into my vision.

I could see him clearly now. I could focus on random things, the book that lay on his desk, the guide to building swimming pools, the pencil holder on the edge of his desk, even the little froggie clock on the wall. He stepped back a trickle of sweat was running down the side of his face. He sat back down at his desk.

"Obviously, it takes a lot of practice to do that." I was so stunned I didn't move.

"Don't get to excited this only lasts for a few hours." That snapped me out of my trance.

"Why do it then?" "So that I can teach you to cure it in a way that it won't be as it is now but..."

"But...?"

"You will be able to see with the burden of being color blind." he said grimacing. I thought about it for a while.

Being able to see properly would be helpful, but how did he expect me to do it?

"How will it be done?" He smiled dryly. "First let's head over to the Irish Sanctuary."

Moon's POV

I slowly opened my eyes.

"Neah? W-What happened? Where are we?" I was slightly panicked, not knowing my surroundings.

"It's alright, we're going someplace safe. Away from things that'll harm you" The response I got felt distant. Far way.

My eyes widened as a realization hit me. Did Neah kill that guy?

"Did you you kill that guy?" I whimpered slightly, my head still hurting.

"No I didn't. Two Sanctuary officials and some cleavers turned up, plus that guy ran away, so I figured it'd be better to leave."

Sweat trickled down his forehead, he must be exhausted. He looked at me, a fake smile on his face, trying his best to hide his exhaustion.

"Neah, I can walk, so please put me down." I was hoping to ease the burden on him, but he clearly saw through it.

"No. you have to rest. We're almost there anyway." I gave up of convincing him to let me down, so I leaned my head against his chest and drifted into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry to make whoever actually reads this wait, we were on a camp and didn't have any internet. Sorry about that.**

Valkyrie's POV

"So you're telling me, the Grand Mage just told you we're supposed to find two highly dangerous criminals and get them to help us. And you weren't told why we need their help." Skulduggery nodded.

"And you don't think that's suspicious at all?" I crossed my arms and looked at him with an accusing look on my face.

"Their names are Moon Shadow or Moon S. Campbell, though according to sensitives she's only called Campbell because of her older brother. His name is Neah D. Campbell. We don't know anything about them except their names. Someone wiped everything we have on them."

He ignored me, continuing..

"In case you didn't know, they're the two we met yesterday by that warehouse." My eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?! The cute girl and that crazy looking guy?" How could they be related?! They look completely different." I blurted out.

Skulduggery looked at me. "Do they really? They looked similar to each other. Why wouldn't they be?" I could only get one answer to that.

"Well… they have different hair."

"A very long list indeed." Skulduggery retorted. I hit him slightly on his arm as we got into his bentley.

"Do you have any idea where we might find them?", I asked, pedestrians and the occasional biker passing by.

I did certainly not like this, but we had to do it.

"My first guess would Campbell manor, since it's the most obvious place to look for clues. It's actually not even that far away." my partner replied. It only took a few minutes before a gigantic mansion came into view.

Plague's POV

Now you may think that this man was rich. Let me correct you, he was f#cking loaded. We left the study (I assumed it was the study) and headed through a hallway to an elevator.

"How many floors do you have here?", I asked trying to sound casual. Mr. Clear only chuckled.

We entered the Elevator but Shiver stayed behind.

"I'll be taking my leave now, sir!", he said firmly as if expecting to be refused the pleasure.

"Yes. Yes, you do that, Chatter."

"Shiver.", corrected Shiver.

"My deepest apologies." Clear pushed the button reading

"-1". "You have a floor under your bottom floor? I thought we were going to the Sanctuary?", I asked.

"In time. This floor is my basement. We all have one."

"Not me.", I said.

"You don't have a basement?", Clear asked, interested.

"I don't have a house. I just...plop myself down anywhere and sleep."

"You are a homeless hitman? Or a hobo as the children say these days."

I'd never given this much thought but now that I did it sounded quite ridiculous.

"Well, I don't have the money to pay for rent now, do I?, I said.

"Well I promise you will be paid well for the job I have in store. And if you like, you could stay in one of the rooms here."

"I could?"

"Didn't I just say that?" I thought about it.

I'd never had a home since I left my parents house when I was 18. But then again I barely knew this man. He could be planning to kill me in my sleep as soon as I was done with my job. I looked over at him. He wasn't watching me. He seemed to be a man who had all the time in the world to do anything he wanted to.

"Alright.", I said.

"Splendid!" He said still not looking at me. He was watching the numbers of the floors we were passing flashing by. 

20  
19  
18  
17  
I hadn't even checked what floor we had been on before we got into the Elevator.  
Finally after a few more seconds the Elevator doors pinged open and we got out. I had to gasp we were in a large circular room. A big steel door, large enough for a tank to drive through it, was on my right. All around us were cars of all shapes and sizes. SUV,s, pick-up trucks, busses, army jeeps and (totally called it) a tank. I realized my mouth was hanging open and closed it quickly. Clear turned towards me.

"What weapons do you use Mr. Wraith?" I gulped.

This was a touchy subject for me. I never really used weapons. Everyone I tried out didn't feel right. I remembered one time in Texas where I was trying out a Spas 12. The thing went completely haywire and I left the store leaving the salesman dead behind the counter.

"Uhhhhh...", I stammered

"I see." Clear said.

He started walking towards a workbench that I hadn't noticed, despite its size. He picked up a Kunai and tossed it at me. Out of reflex I caught it and prepared to through it back but suddenly felt so miserable and suicidal that I hesitated. Why was I here. I wasn't even a good hitman I should just take this blade and stab myself. But just as quickly I recovered gasping.

"Poison.", I said pointing a shaking finger at the blade, then then at Clear and back to the blade.

"Indeed.", Clear said taking it from me. The blade is made from steel mixed with essence of Bane."

Bane? I had never heard of such a thing. He looked at me, noticing my confusion.

"Wolfsbane.", he said as if it was obvious.

"Right." I said trying to make it sound as if I understood. He smiled. He handed me a small, black box with a glass lid. Inside We're about a dozen of those blades.

"Very useful for a quick get away.", he mumbled.

"If one were to stick someone with these, wouldn't they die?", I asked.

"Oh certainly. But I was thinking of that psychopath you were fighting earlier."

"How did you-?" "I know a lot of things. I know for instance that your eyes were taken by an Insane too." I felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Not to worry.", he said. He bent down and opened one of the workbench drawers and lifted out a belt.

"This is for blade storage.", he said handing it to me.

He dug a little deeper into the drawer and...aha! Here it is. It was a switch. Very impressive. He clicked it. On our left the floor opened and a bed with a small table attached to it arose from the ground. On the table lay several surgeon objects. Scalpels, pliers, a saw and many other nasty tools. He grabbed onto my shoulder and walked me over to the bed.

"Do sit down.", he said. I didn't move. "Come now, I won't bite." He put a finger on my chest and the next thing I knew I was lying on the bed.

Clear had his back turned to me and was fiddling with something. When he turned he had a needle in his hand I meant to get up but all will left my body. He pressed the needle into my arm and injected a glowing blue liquid.

"Now you are going to sleep for a few hours so that I can work."  
I could feel myself slipping away.

"Don't...don't...!", I stammered.

"Oh don't worry my man. You will be fine." I was gone.

There she was. The girl who associated with psychopaths. She was sitting alone in a room. Reading. She didn't see me. I walked towards her.

"Don't even try it!" she said sternly. I stopped. I tried to say something but my voice wouldn't obey. She turned her eyes on me. For the second time today I could see clearly. Her eyes. Brown. The color of chocolate. She blinked. She suddenly smiled.

"You don't scare me.", she said confidently.

"How did you hear me." I said with a voice that wasn't mine.

"You forget I am an Adept, brother. I have better hearing, and more skill than even you" I grunted.

"You may have the skill but not the experience and power to beat me."

"Are we going to have this discussion again?" You're always trying to prove yourself." She closed her book "A To The Perfect Love."

"Are you still reading those?", I asked.

"Yes!", she said blushing, "Why?"

He's gone, Moon. He's not coming back."

"He dumped me for...her!", she said, frustration in her voice.

"Face it sister. He was an asshole." She tilted her head.

"Yes I suppose he was."

"What was his name again?", I asked. I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes. Like hot needles were plowing into my pupils.

I jerked awake. I was still one floor -1 but in a different bed. I was soft and cozy. I sat up. I could see. All the colors jumped out at me. I laughed. Tears running down my eyes, I looked at my hands for the first time in decades. They were pale yet strong and firm.

"I see you're recovering.", said a voice. Craig Clear was sitting on a stool one my left.

"You did it!", I exclaimed. "You cured me."

"Indeed." "And im not color blind.", I noticed.

"You're...You're not?"

"No." I assured him.

"Interesting." A brief moment of confusion and a hint of dread crossed his face before he smiled.

"I must be better than I thought." I got out of the bed and noticed what I was wearing.

Black robes with a bit of dark purple from my shoulders down to my forearm. It was beautiful and flowing. The texture was smooth to the touch.

"Uuhhh? How did I get into these?", I asked, horror struck. He just laughed. 

"Come along." We walked over to the work bench only this time there was a real door before it. 

"That wasn't there before." I noticed

"No.", he grinned, "No it wasn't!" He clicked his fingers and the trapdoor swung open. "Down we go.", he said, time to choose a weapon.

Neah's POV

Corridors. Way to many of them. All lined with different paintings of family members. I'd have probably thrown them away, if not for the will of my late father. They are in quite a pristine condition, considering that they are quite literally thousands of years old. Doesn't matter though, I put down my cup of tea, which had too much sugar in again, and stood up while making a mental note to have whoever makes the tea around this replaced. Maybe I should just kill them. It would certainly be easier. Yeah let's do that. I was about to put that plan into action, but Moon walked in telling me we had visitors.

"It's Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain."

"Well then, let's welcome them and get this over with quickly.", I sighed and lazily headed towards the front door via three different staircases and a lot of corridors.

Sometimes I wish we didn't inherit this place. I took a deep breath, placed my friendliest look on my face and opened the door.

"Hello there, how may I help you?" Sparing me no time, the man I assumed was Skulduggery answered.

"We'd like to talk with you and your sister, Mr Campbell."

"That would be no problem", I replied, hoping that this would be the quickest way to get rid of them while trying not to show my hate towards anyone associated with the sanctuary.

I led them to one of the closer living rooms, and motioned them to sit down. Like it was perfectly timed Moon walked in without even looking at them, and sat down next to me.

"What is it you'd like to discuss? I'm afraid I am quite the busy person, so I can only spare you a few minutes."

"We want you to assist us in investigating a case. In return, all the charges against you and your sister will be dropped."

My sister started giggling shortly after I joined in laughing like I just heard the best joke ever. Which if you think about it, it was.

"You want me to join the sanctuary? That's the most tasteless joke I ever heard.", I stated, while returning to my stoic tone of voice.

"Not now, not in the foreseeable future. Which, my dear visitors, could be a long time. Don't waste your time trying to convince me." Moon tilted her head in a thoughtful expression.

"Actually, dropping the charges against us would be beneficial to us, brother. I say we accept."

I nodded my head agreeing to what was probably the most dreaded thing in my life.

"In that case all of our meetings will take place here, and please don't ever think I consider you friends.", I said, showing them the way out.

I sighed during my short walk back. "Let's just get this over with"


	4. Chapter 4

Neah's POV

There's a rough day ahead of us. First we had to meet with those shitty detectives, who don't have any fashion sense at all and then go out of my way to find some random criminals. But if Moon says she wants to, then so be it. Well, to be honest, the skeleton might have some taste in fashion, he wears suits. Maybe I could kill them after our work with them is done. I'm sure Moon won't mind. Hopefully. How would you kill a skeleton though? Rip his 206 bones to pieces? Maybe you can't kill him. If that's the case, I'll just store his bones somewhere in this gigantic mansion. I'll keep him company, we could talk about all kinds of stuff. Shoving these thoughts into the back of my mind, I get up from the seat in my room, where I usually slept. I didn't like beds.

Getting myself ready, I am greeted by my sister, waiting for me outside my room. She hands me a file reading "confidential".

"What am I supposed to do with this?", I ask already knowing that it's probably my new job.

Moon looked at me as if it's obvious, which I suppose it is. "Read it of course. Pleasant and Cain were here earlier and brought it. Said you should look at it, you'll be surprised at who we're looking for. I'm going to get breakfast, so take your time."

I raised an eyebrow at her, intrigued by what she said. I rarely am surprised. And really, I almost was surprised. It's that guy I fought some time ago, that f#cker Plague Wraith. It's great that we're looking for him. In fact this is AMAZING. I get to rip his intestines out and hang him by them. Or maybe I should take it slow, make him pay for hurting my sister. Actually, more importantly, who does that guy remind me of? I could swear I've seen him before. Could it be him? No, that's impossible.

"Ugh I really hate work. Why did Moon have to agree to this shit." I threw the file onto my desk, then walking towards the dining hall with the intention of joining my sister. The breakfast was alright, nothing special, we didn't have much to talk about. I stood up, and said

"Where should we start looking?" She wasn't paying attention. "Earth to my dear sister"

I said in a teasing voice.

"Mmh, yes? I don't know, we could start in the sanctuary, see if we can get some data on him. Listen, I know you don't want to go there, but it's our only option right now." I gritted my teeth.

"Tch, whatever." I turn around exiting the room.

Moon's POV

I feel bad for that. I knew that he hated the sanctuary, and despises the fact that he has to help them now. Anyone would hate them after going through what he went through, heck, we don't even know what he is anymore. But it isn't human anymore, he lost his humanity long ago. He keeps up the act of being human, but I don't know how long he will be able able to keep it up. He might lose it again. Maybe we shouldn't go there. We could always ask Pleasant to get us info. Yeah, let's do that. I stood up, looking for my brother. He was probably sleeping in his chair again. He had a habit of doing that. Just as expected, in his chair, sleeping. Well I can't wake him up, so I might as well wait. I sat on his desk, swinging my legs back and forth. Gosh, he looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. No one could know his true nature when seeing him like this. A tear. A single tear flowed down his face. He must be in pain. I cannot help you brother, all I can do is ease the pain. I hugged him tightly, letting my own emotions get the better of myself. My own tears burst out of my eyes, and I slowly drifted into sleep.

I opened my eyes, and looked straight into my brothers. A warm smile was on his face.

"Sleep well?"

"Alright." I replied, a little blush on my face.

A bell signaled that someone was at the front door.

"Shall we get going?" he asked.

"Sure" I mumbled, tucking my hair behind my ears.

Sure enough, Pleasant and Cain were standing outside. Neah opened the door for me, and we strolled outside.

"Wonderful, you came. We would like you to participate, in the upcoming assault, on the enemies base of operations.", the skeleton said.

"Great. You found them. Now tell me, why would I be interested?", Neah asked them in a mocking voice.

"That Plague fellow is there." We looked at each other before my brother and I agreed.

"I'd be better if you let us handle it, we will be enough.", I told them. Cain raised an eyebrow before she decided to open her mouth.

"I doubt that very much."

Plague's POV

Stairs. Oh how I hate Stairs. They seemed to go on forever. If Craig Clear was so rich why didn't he just install an elevator here? Not that I got tired or anything but the deeper we went the more I felt like I was being watched. The stairs spiraled down from the trapdoor. Once or twice I thought I saw movement in the darkness below. So. Many. Stairs.

After what felt like hours we reached the bottom. It was dark. I felt around the darkness. We were alone. Clear clapped his hands twice and light flickered on. The room was large. Not as big as the one above but still big. All I could see were glass cases and displays full of strange objects. Clear turned to me.

"Walk with me.", he said.

He started towards a case and halted before it I followed. Inside was a cloak. Black as night. So black that it looked like someone had stolen the dark sky and woven it into material.

"This is de Nyx pallio zeli." Clear said looking me straight in the eye.

"Paul what?", I asked stupidly.

"De Nyx pallio zeli." He repeated, "The Cloak of Nyx."

"Mmhmm." I murmured, "And that's important because...?"

"Have you ever tried Shadow Walking Mr Wraith?"

"I have. Not too good at it though. I can only travel up to half a mile a day."

"If I told you that this cloak would grant you enough power to travel greater distances one day, say traveling 1000 miles-"

"I wouldn't believe you." I interrupted him.

"Magic that powerful doesn't exist in this world!"

"Ah but the cloak didn't come from this universe. It was washed up here by mistake. Nyx, the Greek goddess of Night must have cast it into our world. That is what many people say and believe. It is not, however, the truth. This cloak was made by three faceless ones.

"The Triangular Vision."

I remembered. My brother, Travis telling me this story when I was seven. He was mortal yet knew more than I did about magic. He was obsessed. He was jealous of my gift. He went missing three months before my eye incident.

"Exactly. The cloak can take on any shape it's wearer desires.", said Clear smiling now,

"I...acquired this item from a powerful Sorcerer, Gryf Forte. Heard of him?" I shook my head.

"When you say acquired I don't suppose you bargained for it." He laughed. "That information is unimportant." He said, "Come on."

He continued down the mass of displays showing all sorts of items. Weapons, Relics, armour and an atomic bomb in the form of a rubber duck.

"This was supposed to destroy a town in North America in 1945. The President always loved Rubber ducks." Clear mused.

"Franklin Roosevelt?", I asked, "Never took him for the rubber duck kind of guy." 

"Oh yes he adored them." Chuckled Clear. He moved on but I stood, rooted to the spot.

Something caught my eye. A figure strolling between the displays. Not stopping. I followed it, walking fast. It looked back at me. It was a girl. She looked no older than 18. Hair, a reddish blonde, her face full of life. Her eyes looked...purple? That seemed weird. I made to walk over to her. She smirked and vanished. Ok, I thought, so he has spooks here.

I focused on the shadows. Everything you touch, I see This method always helped me when I was blind. Rather useful and reliable. I could only feel one presence. I reached out with my mind. I couldn't touch it's mind, so I pushed harder. It vanished. I felt it reappear next to Clear's for a few seconds before leaving again. I cut off my meditation. Clear was waiting for me next to (yes) more glass cases and displays.

"Mr. Wraith, may I ask you not to wander off. There is work to be done and some things in this gallery are best left alone."I considered about mentioning that girl to him but thought better of it.

"Yeah done deal, Dumbeldore." I said looking around.

"Now," he said, smiling "Where were we?"

"You were talking about nuclear rubber ducks." I said thickly.

"Yes, now for your weapon..." He mused looking around thoughtfully.  
"Ah yes!" He exclaimed finally walking over to the wall and pointed at a...stick!

"Wow," I said amused, "the stick of...?"

"I wouldn't make fun of it Mr Wraith.", he said. I detected a hint of disapproval and anger in his tone.

"Apologies." For some reason I didn't want to upset this man anymore. I felt like I had to serve him forever. Snap out of it I told myself.

"This is Back Slasher. A poorly chosen name in my opinion. The name was given to it by a sorcerer named Richard Ox. An expert at magical weapons. He infused Necromancy and Elemental magical into his cane. It could change form", Clear explained, taking the cane out of its case, "from cane to sword," he flicked the cane and it bent like a whip before straightening out into a magnificent sword.

Before I had time to admire its beauty Clear flicked it again and the sword bent around again. The steel ripples like feathers and interlinked to form a steel linked ship. Black vapor was leaking from its hinges. He clicked it again and it turned back into a cane. He tossed it at me. I caught it out of reflex. It was cool and smooth to the touch.

"You're really giving this to me?" I asked staring at him. My expression must have been priceless because Clear only chuckled. 

"I'm a Collector Mr. Wraith. There way more where that came from. The cloak is yours too. Only promise me one thing..."

"Anything!" I said. Again that tugging feeling in my heart. I will serve this man forever. Cut it out, I scolded myself.

"Give that cane a better name and the cloak a name we can all pronounce." He smiled at me warmly. I gave him a quick smile and followed him back the way we came. He picked out the cloak and handed to me.

"Don't put it on just yet," he said warningly, "you need practice first.

"How're we gonna do that?" I asked 

"Ghosts." He said simply.


	5. Chapter 5

**Now, we might sound a little childish, but we have a review not written by someone we know! That's an achievement for us.**

 **Guest: Thanks for the review, we'll definitely do that!**

Plague's POV

Don't get me wrong. I wanted to figure out how to use my new toys but setting a gang of ruthless ghost possessed skeletons on me...that's taking it a bit far. Clear lead me back up to his work table and closed the trapdoor. He dialled a quick code on his table and the room spun. Once I could focus again, I looked around. The room had changed entirely. We seemed to be standing in an Arena of some kind. There was sand covering the ground and walls built from wooden planks that looked like they'd collapse by even the lightest breeze of wind. On the walls there were heavy iron doors, 4 in all.

"How much fighting experience have you had, Mr. Wraith?" Clear asked. I looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"You're talking to one of the most successful hitmen in Ireland."

"In that case..." he snapped his fingers and three of the doors opened, creaking loudly.

From each door 2 skeletons in armour of what seemed to be every culture or age emerged. On my left the skeletons wore Viking helmets and shaggy skin coats and heavy leather boots. Their shields were decorated with runes I couldn't read and...they were wielding double header axes. In front of me the first skeleton wore a tattered English navy uniform and held a musket. His buddy next to him was a classic knight from the middle ages he must be died in his dressing room as he was only wearing half of his armour. On my right...the two skeletons wore ripped capes and wore very battered hats and were swinging their suckers menacingly.

They advanced slowly. I draped myself in the cloak and held Back Slasher diagonally, at arms length, across my body. The English navy skeleton took aim with his musket. I focused and Shadow walked behind him. Before I even fully materialized behind him, he slammed the stick of his gun into my chin. I fell back, dazed. The two Vikings were sprinting towards me and when they were 7 feet away they jumped. I saw what they were trying to do and rolled backwards and heard their axes slam in to the ground. I flicked the cane and it rippled into its whip form. I swung it at the nearest enemy in this case the English navy skeleton. The whip made a snapping sound in the air and turned the dead man's leg to splinters. It tilted it's head at me as if to say: Really dude? The leg? It crumpled to the floor. That didn't stop it from firing its musket from a prone position. I summoned a wall of shadow just in time to intercept the bullet. As that cleared there was a blur of crescent shaped blades and I felt oddly warm in my chest and shoulder. I stumbled back and examined my shoulder. I glimpsed an ugly wound before the cloak knitted itself together.

I glared at the group of skeletons and then at Clear who was lounging in a box 10 feet in the air. I flicked the whip and it turned to sword form. I charged. Now usually when the hero charges into battle you'd expect him to simply wreck his foes and slash them to bits. You wouldn't expect him to charge triumphantly at his target and get kicked into the ground. Guess what happened? I got to my hands and knees and spat out the sand that had gotten into my mouth. _Let me out._ Said a voice in my head _Let me help you. Alone you are weak but you and I together...winning this fight will be easy._ It sniggered. Come now. _Don't resist. You know how strong I am. Let me out._ I hadn't heard that voice in over 30 years and I didn't like hearing it again. The Beserker was growing restless. I could feel him trying to escape, tugging at my insides. I gasped in air and watched the Dead men approach. He was right of course I couldn't do this by myself. For I split second I stopped resisting before thinking better of it. That split second had been enough. Shadows leaked out of my body, curling around me. I willed the shadows to form spikes and launched them at the skeletons. Three spikes impaled the knight in the chest and he crumpled to the ground. One down, five to go.

The next volley of spikes flew at the Viking twins. Two knocked the shield from the right ones arm before five others knocked him into the arena wall, smashing him to bits. The left Viking deflected three spikes with his shield and knocked two others away with his axe. He grinned (not that he did anything else). He sprinted towards me. My hand flashed. Shadows flowed like water from my fingers and slithered into the skeletons empty rib cage. He froze and looked down at his chest. He dropped his weapons and rose into the air and (I was glad he was dead otherwise Clear's cleaning crew would have a huge mess to clean up) exploded into shards of bone and shadow. I slumped back. The most shocking thing...I hadn't willed those shadows to do that. _You see, The voice said, how powerful we could be?_

"Stop!" I said, holding my hands up to my head.

 _Does this power scare you?_ The Beserker asked, _No need, my love._ You will learn to channel this power. I felt a stinging behind my eyes, Like needles. Clear was stroking his beard, smiling. He waved his hand and the largest door opened slowly. Before it was open completely a giant...thing launched itself through. Like my other opponents it was a skeleton but unlike the other it was bigger. 15 feet tall with a head as big as a wrecking ball. It's mouth rimmed with razor sharp teeth and tusks. It was wearing a chest plate and steel shin guards. It lumbered around a little before spotting me. Its empty eye sockets fixed on me. It roared and ran towards me swinging a giant club. The stinging behind my eyes intensified and I screamed. And just like that...I lost control of my body and The Beserker took over.

"Finally" were the last words I heard before losing consciousness.

Neah's POV

Backed up by the Sanctuary of all things! The sanctuary! It literally couldn't get worse. At least the Cleavers don't talk, they're the only ones here that I didn't want to injure to the point of almost dying. I didn't exactly have high expectations of them or the other sanctuary personnel, the only competent ones here were my sister and I. While she was quite capable of fighting, she was more of a tactician. We were getting ready to enter the building, which was according to certain detectives the enemy HQ. It doesn't seem like a really imposing building, it was pretty normal. Without warning I kicked the door open, gaining Moon and myself entry. Cleavers and Co. were right behind us. During the time that everyone was spreading out, I took notice of a set of stairs with a bad feeling about it. I hoped there was a fight to participate in, because I was practically **itching** for one.

People to kill. I smelled it.

"It's fun time.", I mumbled to myself, before sprinting down the staircase with speed beyond the capabilities of a human.

"Please be him. Please be him. Please be him.", I kept repeating to myself, in Hopes of Plague being down there.

However, the staircase ended at a wall. Just a regular wall. Moon finally caught up to me, panting heavily.

"Don't just… run off like that." I gave her a nod as apology.

I turned towards the wall, forming a void sphere in the process. As expected, the wall disintegrated upon coming into contact. Luck was on my side, and as I step through the hole I find the bastard fighting…a skeleton? But I didn't sense the same presence as before within the man. This excited the giddy me even more. I couldn't help but break out in a huge, deranged smile. The arena he was standing in seemed very much like those from greek times. Never liked the stuff. Over the comms I heard that I was not to engage, and instead wait for backup, yadda yadda yadda. Screw their orders, I was going to get my share of murder.

"Helloooooooo∽", I called into the room, gaining everyone's attention while walking into the ring.

I used formed the sphere into a scythe, approaching them with rising Bloodlust. "

The Beserker's POV

Finally! I thought to myself. Too long have I been trapped in that mortal form. I wasn't strong enough to take over. Now I have enough to remain in control for a few hours. For now I wanted to test my limits. The giant skeleton was charging towards we, swinging his club. I smiled and willed myself to rise into the air. The big oaf stoop abruptly, following my progress. I rose up, level with the skeleton, summoning shadows to gather around me. They formed a sphere around me protecting from the fool's forts strike. His club shattered to splinters. I smirked and sent 4 large spikes at him. 3 hit they're target while the fourth made it half way before desolving.

I frowned. He couldn't be fighting me already, could he? I glanced around me, the sphere of darkness was blinking slightly, longer each time. The Skeleton barreled towards me but I evaded him easily. I was now facing the podium. Clear was observing me, stroking his beard. A loud bang issued from beneath him. The wall had been disintegrated and that Psycho stood, ball of energy in hand. The girl was with him too eyes on me. I hissed at the sight of her. Oh the power coursing through those veins...WHAM! The Skeleton collided with my protective sphere and it shattered. It roared triumphantly, bashing its fists together. Pathetic, I thought. I collected the shadows around me, made them swirl around me and sink into the cloak. I sighed, reassured. The cloak would now protect me from almost all damage. The Skeleton turned its grinning face towards the white haired man and his companion. It picked up a large chunk of its broken club and hurled it at the "Detective Duo". He dodged it easily while the girl scampered to the right. I rose into the air again and closed my eyes.

All the shadows were mine to control. I sensed the Skeleton coming towards me, fast. I opened my eyes and swept my hand in the Skeletons direction. CRACK! Like a roll of thunder it hurtled into the wall. Its jaw was knocked out and it's left arm was missing. I sensed the Skeleton coming towards me, fast. I opened my eyes and swept my hand in the Skeletons direction. CRACK! Like a roll of thunder it hurtled into the wall. Its jaw was knocked out and it's left arm was missing. It got up and staggered towards the girl. She hurled purple light at it, with no effect. Unwillingly I raised my arm and pulled the Skeleton back. It made a grab for her but only managed to sweep her off her feet. She lay there, blood trickling from her somewhere on her forehead. Why I saved her I couldn't explain. Her friend leaped at the Skeleton and dug the blade of his scythe deep into its shoulder, cutting straight through the bone, and thus removing an arm. Still, the giant creature ignored him. Instead it made for her again. She tried crawling away but was too slow. Again I intervened. I swooped low and stationed myself in front of her. It punched, attempting to swat me out of the air. It didn't get lucky this time. It's knuckles shattered like glass on impact and was blasted back into the wall where it lay motionless. I looked down at her.I shouldn't have saved her. Why did I save her anyway? Ignoring her, I returned to my meditation.

The shadows were my domain. My mind swept away and I saw everything from above. There I was, floating in mid air. The white haired man uselessly threw energy balls at me, but each one was snuffed out by the shadows. I looked closer at myself. I looked about 23 years of age with a strong and rather handsome face. My black hair flowing around as if in water. Even from here I could see the black veins in my neck, swirling around like tentacles under my skin. Suddenly I was torn back into my physical form. There was a stinging coming from my chest area. 

"No", I moaned. This couldn't happen now. My chest felt like it was being torn open. And then...darkness.


End file.
